COMESA Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa

EENI- School of International Business

Subject: The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). Syllabus:

1. Introduction to the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)
2. The Integration Process of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)
   1. Preferential Trade Area
   2. Free-Trade Area
   3. Customs Union
   4. Common Market
3. The COMESA Economic Community
4. The COMESA Common Investment Area (Investment Agreement)
5. The COMESA and the Aid for Trade Strategy. Trade Promotion
6. The Monetary Cooperation in the COMESA Region
7. Infrastructure in the COMESA region.
   1. Transport Corridors
8. The Economy of the COMESA Region
   1. Foreign Trade
   2. FDI trends
9. COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
10. COMESA-United States Trade and Investment Framework Agreement
11. History of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)
12. Strategy of the COMESA
13. Institutions of the COMESA
    1. Leather and Leather Products Institute (LLPI)
    2. Regional Investment Agency
    3. COMSTAT Data Portal
    4. African Trade Insurance Agency
    5. Alliance for Commodity Trade in Eastern and Southern Africa
    6. Federation of National Associations of Women in Business in Eastern and Southern Africa
    7. Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank
14. Case Study: Investing in textile, oilseeds, and leather sector
15. Doing Business in the COMESA countries

The objectives of the subject “The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)” are the following:

1. To understand the aims, functions, and institutions of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)
2. To know the economy of the COMESA region
3. To analyse the steps of the COMESA integration: free-trade area, customs union, common market and economic community
4. To evaluate the benefits for the COMESA's member countries
5. To know the programs of trade facilitation and transport of the COMESA
6. To analyse the role of the affiliated institutions: The PTA Bank, the COMESA Reinsurance Company, ACA
7. To learn about the Initiative of the Nile Basin, the Indian Ocean Commission and the Economic Community of the Great Lakes Region
   

Sample of the subject: The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)

Description of the Subject: COMESA (The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa).

The COMESA: 50% of the FDI inflows in Africa.

The strategy of the COMESA (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa) is the “economic welfare through the regional integration in the Southern Africa region.”

The COMESA (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa) members economies are Burundi, the Comoros, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, the Arab Republic of Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, the Seychelles, Sudan, South Sudan, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

1. These countries are predominantly Christians.
2. Muslim countries are the Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Somalia, and Sudan
3. The former members of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) are Lesotho (1997), Mozambique (1997), Tanzania (2000), Namibia (2004), and Angola (2007)

The objective of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) is to develop a Free-Trade Area removing all the internal trade tariffs and barriers.

The COMESA Free-Trade Area was achieved in 2000 when nine of the COMESA member economies (Djibouti, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Sudan, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) eliminated their tariffs on originating products from the Eastern and Southern African Countries.

This followed an international trade liberalisation programme that started in 1984 on reduction (and eventual elimination) of tariff and non-tariff barriers to the international trade in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) region.

Burundi and Rwanda joined the COMESA Free-Trade Area in 2004.

These eleven economies of the COMESA (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa) Free-Trade Area have not only eliminated the customs tariffs but are working on the eventual elimination of the quantitative restrictions and other non-tariff barriers.

Other objectives related to the COMESA trade promotion are:

1. Regional Trade liberalisation and customs cooperation
2. Improving the administration of transport and communications to facilitate the movement of the export products, services, and people between the economies in the COMESA region
3. Creating an enabling an environment and legal framework
4. Coordination of the macroeconomic and monetary policies

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) plans to become a customs union.

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) belongs to the African Civilisation:

1. Southern African Economic Area
2. East African Economic Area
3. Central African Economic Area

The Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank was created in 1985 following the dispositions of the Treaty of 1981 establishing the Preferential Trade Area, which has since been transformed into the Common Market for Eastern and Southern African States (COMESA), as a financial arm of the integration arrangement.

COMESA Customs Union

Trans-African Corridors in the COMESA region:

1. Northern Corridor
2. Lobito Corridor
3. Tripoli-Windhoek
4. Cairo-Gaborone
5. Beira-Lobito
6. North-South Corridor
7. Lagos-Mombasa

The largest ports in the COMESA (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa) region:

1. Port of Mombasa
2. Port Said
3. Port Sudan
4. Port of Djibouti
5. Port of Toamasina

❮ Samples - COMESA ❯

Indian Ocean Commission.